Low staffing levels 'harming older people'

The majority of NHS hospitals do not have enough members of staff to provide an adequate level of care to older patients, a report has claimed.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has set out a threshold of staffing levels that must be exceeded in order to prevent care on older people's wards from being compromised.

However, the organisation warned that most hospitals are currently failing to meet this threshold.

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This means that nurses and healthcare assistants often do not have enough time to comfort and talk with patients, promote self-care and help them to eat and drink.

The RCN has called on the government to provide a 'patient guarantee' to ensure there are enough nurses on older people's wards to provide patients with safe care.

Dr Peter Carter, the organisation's chief executive and general secretary, said: 'Despite working tirelessly to provide patients with high quality care, nurses in these settings have repeatedly told us that they are unable to do this because of pressures caused by short staffing.

'It is unacceptable that there are not enough nurses on older people's wards.'

The report follows a recent investigation by consumer watchdog Which?, which found that many older people are subjected to 'disgraceful' standards of care in their own homes.

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